Haridopolos Names Committee Chairs

A pair of Democrats sympathetic to at least some Republican causes were tapped Monday by Senate President Mike Haridopolos to chair committees as the chambers organize themselves for the 2010 Legislative session.

Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, and Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Margate, were named to head committees on agriculture and government oversight in the newly organized chamber that will officially begin its work Tuesday with an organizational session.

Both members have taken positions favored by the Republican-led chambers. Siplin, who will become chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said last week he may challenge in court the passage of Amendment 5, which was approved by voters in November despite the efforts of Republican Legislative leaders to scuttle the measure that changes the way political boundaries are drawn.

A member of the black caucus, Siplin was the Senate sponsor of a bill to trump Amendment 5. Siplin said the measure would violate federal protections that have led to the creation of legislative districts drawn in large part to ensure that minority candidates prevail.

Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Margate, will become chairman of the Government Oversight and Accountability. Ring was the Senate sponsor last year of efforts to wrest control of the Department of Management Services from the governor’s office and put it under the purview of the governor and Cabinet, another issue favored by Senate Republicans.

The Democrats were among 28 committee and subcommittee chairmanships divvied out Monday on the eve of the Legislative organizational session. Some of those chairmen and women had already been named, including Senate Budget Committee chairman J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, and Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, chairman of the Senate Rules Committee.

“Selecting committee chairs has been a member driven process,” Haridopolos said in a statement. “I took great strides in placing senators on committees they wanted to serve on.”

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